GB 2431610 discloses a hammer drill in which a handle is moveably mounted relative to a body of the hammer drill so that the direction of movement of the handle relative to the body generally coincides with the resultant direction of vibration of the body. This enables the vibrations passing from the body to the handle to be effectively damped by allowing relative motion between the handle and the body along that direction, the damping occurring by means of springs.
However, hammer drills of this type suffer from the disadvantage that such drills are most effectively used in a two-handed manner, and the user must therefore place a hand on either a second handle, which should also be vibration damped and which therefore increases the cost of manufacture of the power tool, or on part of the main body of the housing of the tool, which is subject to vibrations of greater amplitude than those affecting the handle.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention seek to overcome one or more of the above disadvantages of the prior art.